PRESIDENT BUSH received an immediate fillip from his confident and
ambitious State of the Union address as his poll rating jumped a
dozen points overnight.

Reaction from overseas was much more guarded after Mr Bush used the
occasion to prod US allies Egypt and Saudi Arabia to embrace
democratic change. And Iranian reformers accused the President of
doing more harm than good by directly challenging Tehran’s ruling
theocrats to loosen their hold on power.

Mr Bush used his prime-time spotlight to expand on the vision of
advancing freedoms that he addressed so strikingly at his
inauguration two weeks ago. This time, though, instead of sticking to
broad ideals, Mr Bush named names.

He branded Iran “the world’s primary state sponsor of terror” and
said that Tehran must give up its uranium enrichment programme. With
a flourish, Mr Bush added: “And to the Iranian people, I say tonight:
as you stand for your own liberty, America stands by you.”

Syria, he said, continued to harbour terrorists “who seek to destroy
every chance of peace in the region”. Both regimes have been easy
targets since Mr Bush launched the War on Terror four years ago.

Much more delicate was the public cajoling that the President
directed at Egypt and Saudi Arabia, important US allies in the region
despite their lack of political freedoms.

He made clear that he expected both to demonstrate a “higher standard
of freedom” towards their own people.

Hosni Mubarak, the autocratic President who has ruled Egypt for 25
years, has hinted recently that he may seek a fifth six-year term. Mr
Bush appeared to suggest that Mr Mubarak should allow an opponent to
run against him for the first time.

“The great and proud nation of Egypt, which showed the way towards
peace in the Middle East, can now show the way towards democracy in
the Middle East,” Mr Bush said.

He used a similar coaxing tone when addressing Saudi Arabia, an
absolute monarchy which this month is to hold its first limited
elections. Voters will be able to choose half the seats on municipal
councils. Women can neither vote nor stand as candidates.

Mr Bush said: “The Government of Saudi Arabia can demonstrate its
leadership in the region by expanding the role of its people in
determining their future.”

As he spoke, Mr Bush was clearly buoyed by the success of Sunday’s
elections in Iraq, a reward for his gamble in insisting that the
polls should not be delayed despite the rampaging insurgency. But
reformers in the countries that he named were underwhelmed by the
President’s attention; some said that Mr Bush was in danger of
setting back their cause.

Khaled al-Maeena, the editor of Arab News, a Saudi English-language
daily, said: “People here are clamouring for more participation,
empowerment, female involvement. But the people have to say it, not
the US President.”

The Egyptian Foreign Ministry insisted that it did not regard Mr
Bush’s words as a veiled rebuke. But Dia el-Din Dawoud, the head of
the left-wing Nasserist party, said that Mr Bush should not meddle.

“We don’t want constitutional or democratic reform in Egypt, or in
any Arab country, to be merely a response to American pressure, but
to the interests of the people and of popular pressure,” he said.

Nor was Mr Bush’s finger-wagging at Tehran welcomed. A well-travelled
businessman in Tehran said: “His speech may go down well with
Iranians in Los Angeles, but at home it will only strengthen the
hardliners.”
Regional analysts also doubted whether US sabrerattling would succeed
in quickening the painfully slow reforms of Bashar al-Assad, who
trained in Britain as an eye doctor before succeeding his father as
President of Syria in 2000.

But at home, where Mr Bush unveiled a clumsy concoction of
initiatives, he went down well. The proportion of debate-watchers who
thought that his policies in Iraq were heading in the right direction
leapt overnight from 66 per cent to 78 per cent. Likewise, the
proportion believing that the US was on the right track rose from 67
per cent to 77 per cent.

Mr Bush urged Congress to send $350 million (£185 million) to help to
pay for security forces and economic reforms for Palestinians as a
show of US goodwill.

On the domestic front, Mr Bush warned Congress to start curbing the
$420 billion budget deficit. His 2006 budget, unveiled next week,
will be the tightest budget of his presidency, eliminating or cutting
150 federal programmes.

Spending unrelated to the War on Terror will be held well below
inflation. (Copyright 2005 Times Newspapers Ltd. 02/04/05)